Thursday, 29 January 2009

Yes, indeed this time is a necessary part of diving dictated by mathematical decompression models that track the theoretical nitrogen you have in your body before during and after a dive (Breath).

But with all that said what a brilliant idea to have an hour or so break with a new group of peoplewith nothing to entertain ourselves except each other. Under some palm trees on a deserted beach with food and friends.

This has proven to be one of my favourite parts of diving, friendly games of cricket (Fijian style), international guests with a range of entertaining talents and wonderful staff ready for a laugh and some good old fashion fun!

Come and dive the best of Kadavu Island on this awesome 7-night package, including 5 days of scuba diving. Stay at Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort directly on the Great Astrolabe Reef. Matava is a genuine eco-adventure-hideaway designed to cause minimal impact on the environment and to promote conservation awareness with the local community and visitors.

Drift to sleep to the soothing roar of the waves breaking on the distant reef and be awakened to the call of exotic native wildlife. Matava caters to a maximum of only 22 guests in lush tropical surrounding ensuring a private haven away form the hustle and bustle of crowds. Traditional thatched Fijian 'bures' with solid mahogany timber polished floors, louvre windows, timber Queen and King Sized beds and private decks are nestled in the rainforest to offer privacy, comfort and superb ocean views.

Tuesday, 27 January 2009

The Dive Village is a new community for divers and underwater enthusiasts like you to meet, show off your photos and videos, talk live on IM messenger, chat rooms and forums. You are also able to sell dive gear, post jobs, rate pictures, and add blogs as well as a ton of more cool new interactive features. The Dive Village is a product of Dive Zero Productions Inc.

You may know Dive Zero as the world's first high definition scuba diving video magazine and virtual page flip magazine, now Dive Zero has introduced The Dive Village, to help bring the scuba world together and make it easier to hook up with dive buddies and find exactly what you are looking for.

It's not all about the diving here at Matava. Sure we dive every day and diving is discussed over meals and most people will dream about diving but there are plenty of other things to do here.
One of the most popular activities - nothing - quite hard for some, but after a few days most people get the hang of it.

The local village isn't far to walk to and there is a beautiful waterfall if the salt gets too much.

Friday, 23 January 2009

Our first day of diving, we went to Manta Reef and within 5 minutes we were viewing the majestic beauty of graceful gliding and feeding Manta Rays. Never to be forgotten was the mother/baby pair that performed a barrel roll at the surface!

We hung below the reef and watched several different Mantas feeding overhead. Other days of diving we spent completing our PADI Advanced Open Water Certification which we needed to be dive volunteers at our local aquarium. Our Dive Instructor, Simon Parry, was both fun and on task! He picked the dive sites where we could complete our required skills but also made sure there was plenty of reef life to view along the way.

There were 3 dive masters at Matava (Simon, Joe and Tae) who knew the reefs well and would help you find what you were looking for. Our Fiji underwater photos are located at [--]. We did two days of diving Viti Levu which included the shark feeding dive at Beqa Adventure Divers (Pacific Harbor, Beqa Lagoon) so many of the shark pictures were taken there.

Combining the internationally acclaimed, OZTeK Diving Technologies Conference with a full-scale Dive Exhibition, OZTeK'09 is poised to set new standards of excellence in Dive Events.

Offering exhibitors the opportunity to tap directly into one of the world's most dynamic regional diving markets, OZTeK'09 is targeted towards that affluent and influential audience of industry professionals and diving consumers who want more.

Focussed on the full spectrum of underwater activities, (from recreational, technical, commercial, military and scientific diving through to free-diving and marine conservation issues) the two-day OZTeK'09 event will merge all facets of diving into one exhibition aimed at promoting the excitement and adventure of diving to an enthusiastic audience. .

Showcasing the very best that the world of diving has to offer, a presence at OZTeK'09 allows exhibitors the opportunity to: • Consolidate and reinforce their position in the marketplace. • Source New Markets • Create increased brand awareness for products and services. • Meet new customers and stimulate sales. • Preview new diving equipment, trends and technologies. • Attend update seminars, training programmes and the OZTeK'09 Conference.

To be staged at Australian Technology Park, (in Sydney, Australia,) on the weekend of the 21st - 22nd March 2009, OZTeK'09 promises to be a highlight event on the international dive industry calendar.OZTeK Exhibitor Information

Not Included: Flights to Kadavu, travel insurance, items of personal nature, drinks and other activities at the resort.

Conditions: Travel must be finished before 20 Dec 2009. Subject to availability at time of reservation. Prize is valid for the person drawn and a dive buddy of his/her choice. Prize is not transferable. To take part in the draw you must fill in an entry form at the booth #8,9 of Diversion Dive Travel during the show. Winner will be notified personally via e-mail

Wednesday, 21 January 2009

“Fathom” is a unit of length used as a depth measurement in English-speaking countries. A fathom corresponds to a depth of 1.829 metres. Fifty Fathoms amounts to 91.45 metres – the exact depth one can reach with traditional diving equipment. It was therefore logical for Blancpain to give this name to the first diver’s watch in watchmaking history. In tribute to Blancpain’s achievements in this field, this famous name now appears on the cover of the most prestigious magazine ever dedicated to the underwater world.

Tourism Fiji in collaboration with key industry partners including the Fiji Islands Hotel and Tourism Association (FIHTA), Society of Fiji Travel Associates (SOFTA) and Air Pacific confirmed that the necessary infrastructure, facilities and equipment to operate Fiji’s Tourism industry has been largely unaffected by the recent flooding with only minor damage reported by member Hotels, Resorts, Transport, Transfer and Cruise Operators, and International and Domestic airlines.

The industry is unified in its efforts and working hard to reassure visitor’s considering travel to Fiji to take advantage of Fiji’s tropical climate, excellent deals and of course to enjoy Fiji’s biggest asset – it’s warm, friendly people.

Key strategies to lure visitors to our shores include wide ranging familiarization visits commencing early next week to key tourism areas by prominent Travel Wholesalers, Travel Agents and Trade Press to demonstrate first hand the experiences Fiji has to offer. This will be followed up by great value holiday deals initially in the key source markets of Australia and New Zealand driven by Tourism Fiji and its partners.

In a meeting with the Minister for Tourism on Monday, the Minister reinforced his support for the industry and assured stakeholders that Government will facilitate road upgrading and other necessary infrastructure works to key Tourism areas as a priority. Government recognizes the resilience of the Tourism industry, its ability to quickly facilitate economic recovery, and its widespread importance to the local community.

The private sector continues to invest heavily in the industry with new hotel developments coming on line this year and new routes being opened up by Air Pacific.

Fiji’s Tourism Industry offers a wide range of Holiday experiences for local and international tourists, and support to Fiji’s tourism industry is critical to generate important foreign exchange enabling assistance to areas that have sustained damage by flooding.

The Tourism industry acknowledges and thanks the support offered by Government and global industry partners and will continue to cooperate closely with key stakeholders to achieve targeted visitor arrivals. The industry also realizes the importance of working with the media and seeks their support in the recovery process.

Sunday, 18 January 2009

For divers here at Matava, every day starts the same... Sitting at the waters edge eating french toast, eggs or museli. Divemaster Jo or Jone approaches and in chorus the divers ask "Where are we going diving today?!" and every day their reply remains the same... "In the water."

Followed by laughs, sighs and a general appreciation for Fijian humour, the divers day begins. And although the divers day always begins the same, no doubt it will always end with different dive sites.

Over one month I've been here at Matava, diving nearly everyday and not yet have I experienced all the dive sites and quite often we find ourselves on the hunt for more.

With Richards enthusiasm and Mas's keen eye for reading the water new sites are found in unexplored corners of the reef, bringing excitement, new life and keeping the adventure in diving.

Thursday, 8 January 2009

Thousands To Be Won At OZTeKJanuary 5, 2009 – Combining speaker presentations, seminars and workshops with an action-packed dive exhibition offering unique insights into tomorrow’s world of diving adventure, everyone attending OZTeK’09 – whether as a conference delegate, a visitor to the exhibition, a gala dinner guest or entrant in the underwater imagery competition – has the opportunity to win part of the tens of thousands of dollars in trips and dive equipment as prizes.

Lucky Door PrizesPeriodically throughout the weekend, visitors to the OZTeK’09 Exhibition will have the opportunity to win overseas dive trips and equipment that already includes:1. A seven-night dive trip to the Solomon Islands, courtesy of Invader Charters.2. Seven nights’ accommodation at Tawali Resort, Papua New Guinea, for one, courtesy of Tawali Adventures.3. A seven-night dive trip to Santo Island, Vanuatu, for one, courtesy of Air Vanuatu, Deco Stop Lodge and Dive Adventures.4. A seven-night trip to Hideaway Island, Port Vila, Vanuatu, for one, courtesy of Air Vanuatu, Hideaway Island Resort and Dive Adventures.5. A Zeagle Flathead XP first and second stage regulator, courtesy of Scuba Imports with choice of DIN or yoke fitting.6. Two limited-edition “Closed Circuit Dive Club” T-shirts and two “CCR – Closed Circuit Refresher” DVDs courtesy of C-19.7. A seven-night trip to Matava Resort, Kadavu, Fiji, for two, courtesy of Matava Resort and Diversion Dive Travel.

Gala Awards DinnerTo be held at Dockside Cockle Bay on the evening of Sunday, 22 March, everyone attending the Gala Awards Dinner has an opportunity to win great prizes that already include: a 10-night dive trip to Lissenung Island Resort, Kavieng, in Papua New Guinea, for one, courtesy of Air Niugini, Lissenung Island Resort, and Dive Adventures.

As well as the “Industry Recognition” and “Outstanding Achievement” awards that will be announced on the evening, this year’s recipient of the OZTeK “Technical Diver of The Year Award” will receive: a VRX mixed gas dive computer, courtesy of VR Technologies.

Underwater Imagery CompetitionSponsored by Scubapro Australia, the great range of prizes for the OZTeK’09 Underwater Imagery Competition already includes: a seven-night dive trip to the Solomon Islands, courtesy of Invader Charters; and a eight-night trip to Nusa Island Resort, Kavieng, in Papua New Guinea, courtesy of Scuba Ventures, Nusa Island Retreat, Air Niugini, and Dive Adventures.

To be held at Australian Technology Park, Sydney, 21–22 March 2009, more information on all that’s happening at OZTeK’09 – as well as full details of all of the prizes on offer – can be viewed on the Web site. See you there!

Just outside this remote resort you can have your first underwater experience and for those more experienced divers you can find yourself dropping down to 20m and drifiting along side the famous astrolabe reef or watching in awe as the huge mantarays twist and turn gracefully underwater orchecking out the huge array of nudibranchs that our dive masters have developed a keen eye for finding.

Whether you are a beginner or a Jacque Cousteau of the underwater world, there is something here for you.

Danielle and Tim from Australia finsihed their open water course in a few days and found themselves drifting along side beautiful soft coral mastering those all important bouyancy skills. Kurt also completed his Open water course and was swimming with the stingrays before the day was through.

Brian from Mongolia also took the challenge and came to understand the divers addiction to the underwater world. For those not ready to complete the full open water course or with limited time have enjoyed single discover scuba dives. Hugo and Julie from France, Anca from Mongolia and Fran from France all gave it a go.

The warm waters, friendly Staff and experienced dive crew will make your stay here in matava one to remember.
So if you havn't already taken the plunge, why not start here?

Come and check it out for yourself, there really is something in the water.

A blog by Richard, Joe, Stuart, Simon and Lou of Mad Fish Dive Centre at Matava about the great scuba diving around the Fiji Islands. Some of the highlights of living and working in Fiji is the diving on the soft coral reefs with sharks, mantas and teeming life on the reefs.